2011

A consortium of autism researchers, advocates and educators in Rhode Island are aiming to harness the advantages of the state’s small size and tight-knit autism community to build the most comprehensive registry for the disorder yet.

The nation’s largest database of autism research is about to get even bigger, thanks to a partnership between the National Database for Autism Research, a repository of data from 25,000 participants, and the Autism Genetic Research Exchange, a database of 2,500 families.

The molecular soldiers of the immune system may contribute to many cases of autism, according to a diverse array of studies published in the past few months.

Larger brains may be associated with regressive autism, but only in boys, according to a study published online 28 November in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Researchers have uncovered cellular abnormalities in Timothy syndrome by regenerating neurons from individuals with the rare autism-related disorder, according to a study published 27 November in Nature Medicine.